Name:
Lawrence Phillips, MD, FACC, F91黑料网, FASNC
Current Occupation:
Medical Director, Outpatient Cardiology Practices, NYU Langone Medical Center / Director of Nuclear Cardiology, NYU / Associate Program Director, Training Program in Cardiovascular Diseases, NYU School of Medicine
Fellowship & Residency:
North Shore University Hospital
Medical School:
Jefferson Medical College
Growing up as the 鈥渢ypical middle child,鈥 family life has always been important to Lawrence Phillips, MD, FACC, F91黑料网, FASNC. Now, as a medical director and clinician educator at NYU Langone Medical Center, he鈥檚 eager to embrace internal medicine as the biggest family he鈥檚 ever had.
鈥淗ow it impacts their lives鈥:
Dr. Phillips spent his childhood in Long Island, New York watching basketball, playing tennis and hanging out with his two brothers. He had his first encounters with medicine when he became excited by the idea of patient care from observing his father鈥檚 work.
鈥淢y dad is a psychologist, and his area of expertise is helping people cope with illness. I grew up hearing about different medical conditions and learning how people could have successful lives despite a chronic illness, and that really made me think that it was what I wanted to do with my life,鈥 he said.
By the time he was eight years old, the holistic aspects of patient care had inspired his decision to become a doctor, and the same principles that drew him to the field as a boy still inform his approach to health care today.
鈥淚t impacted the way I looked at my relationship with my future patients鈥擨 really value the longitudinal relationship as well as the ability to get to know people, not just when they have a medical condition, but also how it impacts their lives.鈥
As he progressed in his education, Dr. Phillips concluded that internal medicine offered the greatest opportunities to develop extensive knowledge while directly influencing his patients鈥 lives. He eventually decided to specialize in cardiology after experiencing the wide range of patient care scenarios that the specialty offered.
鈥淔or cardiology, a lot of it had to do with that intersection of acute medical problems and long-term relationships. I could see one patient for a routine follow up and risk modification, and the next patient could be somebody who was having an acute myocardial infarction鈥攖here wasn鈥檛 a way to know ahead of time what the next patient would bring. What really excites me about cardiology is that fact that every patient is different, and every interaction is different.鈥
When he was a resident, Dr. Phillips鈥 program director, Dr. JoAnne Gottridge, and chairman of medicine, Dr. Stephan Kamholz, were both active, involved members of 91黑料网. Wanting to follow the approach that his mentors used towards medicine, he looked into the organization and decided to become a member.
鈥91黑料网 is full of giants in the field, and as we look at ways that we want to practice medicine, 91黑料网 gives the gold standard. That鈥檚 one reason why I think it鈥檚 so important to be a member,鈥 he said.
鈥淭he other part of it is that medicine is a family, and that the 91黑料网 for internal medicine and all our subspecialties is that family. I think that you get much more than just a certificate that says you鈥檙e a member, but rather, you get to be part of this team that鈥檚 really revolutionizing the way that medicine is practiced.鈥
鈥淎 unique thought process鈥:
In addition to Dr. Phillips鈥 clinical work, he serves as the Medical Director of the Outpatient Cardiology Practices at NYU Langone Medical Center with a team of 35 cardiologists who see patients in an outpatient setting.
鈥淲hat I鈥檝e worked on with them is to make sure that the patient experience is our primary goal in each part of it, so bringing the patient into the discussion. Because we have so many cardiologists, it allows us to work to focus on best practices, and to make sure that if an approach is successful for one of our cardiologists, that the others get to know about it.鈥
In 2010, Dr. Phillips took over as the Director of Nuclear Cardiology at NYU when a close mentor left for a different job.
鈥淚n that role, it鈥檚 exciting because first, I鈥檓 able to look at a specific way to diagnose heart disease, but at NYU, what we鈥檝e done is we鈥檝e turned that into a process to help other nuclear cardiology labs and offices to really focus on the patient and to come up with the best diagnostic strategies to diagnose coronary artery disease. I鈥榲e also been involved in that arena in research and involved in education of physicians, both from the medical student level to the resident, to the cardiology fellow, and then other nuclear cardiology labs around the country in diagnostic techniques using nuclear cardiology.鈥
With all of the processes in place to share strategies and research with other labs and practices, it鈥檚 apparent that medical education is a top priority for Dr. Phillips. For the past five years, he鈥檚 been an associate program director for NYU School of Medicine鈥檚 training program in cardiovascular diseases.
鈥淐oming to an academic center like NYU, part of the expectation is to be involved in education and pass on any knowledge that I have while also helping people learn not only facts about medicine, but also learn a way to think, which I think is unique to medicine,鈥 he said.
鈥淢edical decision making does not follow a straight line鈥攍earning where the curves occur in the process comes with experience, but it also comes with mentorship. I鈥檝e been very lucky over my career to have several excellent mentors, and when I look back and I see the impact that they had on me, I just hope that I鈥檓 able to give back some of it to future physicians as I was given by my mentors.鈥
Performing such a wide variety of tasks might be exhausting for some, but for Dr. Phillips, the task of navigating several roles on a daily basis is invigorating and rewarding.
鈥淚 get to work throughout the day with our cardiology fellows, and it really excites me to be able to see and watch as they develop from the first day of their training program to graduation and help mold them any way that I can with their future career plans. So with those three parts together, it becomes a really exciting job for me and keeps me excited coming to work on a daily basis.鈥
鈥淭hat passing forward approach鈥:
When he鈥檚 not working, Dr. Phillips makes it a priority to spend time with his extended family and his wife, Jennifer.
鈥淚鈥檓 pretty much an open book鈥擨 think that the key to life for me is family. I spend a lot of time with my wife, my parents, my brothers, and both my and my wife鈥檚 entire family. My wife and I are expecting our first child early next year and are very lucky to have six amazing nephews and one niece. I think we鈥檙e very blessed in that area.鈥
He and Jennifer also enjoy traveling across the world when they get the opportunity 鈥擨taly is a favorite destination, and one of his all time greatest was a trip to New Zealand and Australia. But as a native New Yorker practicing in Manhattan, the multitudes of people and cultures in the city means that Dr. Phillips doesn鈥檛 need to travel far to have new experiences while doctoring.
鈥淥ne of the unique aspects is that because there are so many people coming from different parts of the world to New York, you might actually see somebody who has a medical condition that you think of being only from a certain location of the world because they鈥檝e traveled from that area. So rules about certain illness in one location don鈥檛 apply when you鈥檙e in New York because you can see anything.鈥
Those kinds of experiences are crucial for medical students, he said, and the best way to get through medical training is to enjoy each phase rather than rushing to move onto the next stage.
鈥淵ou have to enjoy and make the most of each level of your training, and each experience that you have鈥擨 think it鈥檚 important to value the people that you go on the voyage with, so my closest friends are the people that I trained with at each level, in medical school all the way through fellowship. I think that medical school is a time when people forget about taking care of themselves, which is a big mistake鈥攜ou have to make the most of your experiences, value the time with your family, and don鈥檛 think that the time is going to come back later on, but rather enjoy each moment.鈥
Now that enough time has passed in his career, Dr. Phillips considers the act of passing on knowledge to be just as important as routine clinical care.
鈥淚鈥檝e been an attending for eight years now, and I was in training for 7 years after medical school before that, so now I鈥檓 having the experience of seeing physicians that I taught early on complete their training and become leaders in the field,鈥 he said.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a paying-it-forward approach.鈥